Olympics Opening Ceremony

And they're off...

After years of waiting the London Olympics are finally upon us, and what a fantastic start we had last night at the opening ceremony. Before last I am ashamed to say I didn't have much hope for us, I didn't expect us to put on a very good show for the rest of the world. Boy was I wrong. Danny Boyle has done us proud, and has left me and I'm sure much of the nation feeling very patriotic and excited for the sporting events and the closing ceremony.

Boyle made it a truly British spectacular, celebrating our nation whilst moving through time and giving a somewhat history lesson. Firstly Bradley Wiggins who last week became the first Brit to win the Tour de France, he started the night by ringing the giant bell. It then moved from our "green and pleasant land" which was filled with loads of animals from horses to ducks. It went through the industrial revolution to a sudden silence to remember those killed in the war.

Then onto the NHS, Great Ormond Street Hospital, Harry Potter and one of my favourite moments from Rowan Atkinson as Mr Bean causes his usual chaos. The highlight of the night for me was Daniel Craig, AKA James Bond and his royal sidekick, The Queen! I thought it was fantastic that she not only formally opened the games but she was involved within the fun and showy side of the night. It went on to a man who played The Queen jumping out of a helicopter over the Olympic stadium just before The Queen makes her entrance.

Greece then led the way into the stadium for the 205 teams that are involved in the games, with our team at the back lead but Sir Chris Hoy. Once The Queen had officially declared the games open the cauldron was lit in a spectacular way. There was much speculation about who was going to bring the torch into the stadium, but after David Beckham who was seen to bring it down the thames on a speedboat, he handed it to Sir Steve Redgrave who proudly brought it into the stadium.

There was music from the Arctic Monkeys who were absolutley fantastic live! Also Sir Paul McCartney played Hey Jude, which is always a crowd pleaser. He may be losing it slightly but the crowds sang along and made it a great finale. To finish off the stadium was lit up by an array of fireworks.

One thing I must mention is the thousands of volunteers that took part in the ceremony, what an incredible job they did. They deserve much recognition and praise for all they done.

After such an amazing night I'm really looking forward to watching a lot of the games and especially the closing ceremony.

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